Pa. man accused of slashing wife's throat, killing two dogs arrested out of state

WILLIAMSPORT - A man is in custody in Indiana, accused of slaying his wife in Williamsport by slashing her throat and killing his two dogs.

Edward Heck, 49, is detained in Indiana awaiting extradition back to Pennsylvania to face charges of homicide, aggravated assault and cruelty to animals.

He is charged with killing Sonja Rowe Heck, 49, in their home in the 2600 block of Linn Street. Her body was found Friday afternoon by her daughter, Emily Rowe.

The woman had been dead sometime before her body was found, Lycoming County Coroner Charles E. Kiessling Jr. said Saturday. An autopsy is planned early next week, he said.

Arrest documents do not give a motive for the slaying but Rowe told police she caught her stepfather cheating on her mother recently. She also said her mother had demanded Heck take his two dogs to the SPCA because she did not want them in the house any longer, the arrest affidavit states.

The dogs were found dead in the cellar from blunt force injuries, police said.

Rowe told police she had received a text message from her stepfather Thursday that stated something to the effect: "I'm sorry, I didn't do it."

She thought the text might have been meant for someone else and ignored it, she told investigators.

When her mother's employer on Friday notified Rowe she had not come to work, she went to the house and found the body, police said.

While being interviewed Friday at police headquarters, Rowe received a text message from her stepfather advising her not to go to the house, the affidavit states.

The document also states a note was found on the kitchen table in the house but the contents were not disclosed.

A number of objects that could have been used to inflect the fatal wounds on the woman and dogs were found in the house, they said. None has yet been identified as the murder weapon, they said.

Heck was arrested about 8 p.m. Friday after his vehicle was located near a motel in Lebanon, Indinana. Sources say police tracked him through the use of his cell phone.

The couple had moved to Williamsport from Exeter within the past several months, police say.